Fire escape



Feb. 16, 1937. c. M..COCHRAN FIRE ESCAPE Filed May 14, 1935 INVENTOR.CHARLES M cOCHEA/V. W

ATTORNEY.

Patented Feb. 16, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT GFFECE 2,070,580 Fm ESCAPECharles M. Cochran, Antioch, Calif.

Application May 14,

2 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in fire escapes andsimilar apparatus and its principal object is to provide a means wherebya person caught in a fire in any one of the upper stories of a buildingmay lower himself from the window to the ground and have absolutecontrol over the speed with which he moves.

More particularly it is proposed to provide a rope that may be properlysuspended and a brake -with a harness for seating a person, the brakebeing arranged so that the person seated in the harness may engage therope with the brake whereby the speed of the descent may be con trolledand arrested altogether.

It is further proposed to provide a harness that is particularlyeffective in properly supporting a person, without danger of slippingout of the harness so that the person may devote his entire attention tothe control of the rope.

It is further proposed to provide a brake which allows two or morepersons to be supported thereby and to independently feed their ropethrough the brake if such independent control is desired.

Further objects and advantages of my invention will appear as thespecification proceeds.

The preferred form of my invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing which illustrates my fire escape in perspective view.

While I have shown only the preferred form of my invention I wish tohave it understood that various changes and modifications may be madewithin the scope of the claims hereto attached without departing fromthe spirit of the invention. Particularly I wish to point out that whileI have described my invention as a fire escape it may be used for manydifferent purposes as for supporting painters, window washers, repairmen in operative relation to their respective work on buildings or otherhigh structures etc.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the rope I may be of any suitableconstruction but should be strong and should preferably have metallicstrands therein. One end of the rope may be fastened to a fixed point,as to the radiator of a room from which a person wishes to lower himselfor it may be fastened to the brake 2 as shown at 3, an intermediatesection of the rope being guided over the sheave 4 suspended from anelevated point to give more perfect control to the operator. The latterarrangement is preferred where extreme speed is not an immediate objectas in a painting or washing job, while in case of fire the formerfastening means is preferred.

The brake, as illustrated in the drawing, con- 1935, Serial No. 21,369

sists of two sections 5 and 6 which may be used conjointly as shown inthe drawing but either one of whichmay be used by itself. Each of thesections comprises a rod I, the intermediate portion 8 of which ispreferably straight while its ends 9 and I0 are turned over to form twohooks I I and I2 which are arranged in opposed relation in the sameplane. The extremities I3 and I4 of each end are bent in the oppositedirection to form reverse hooks I5 and I6 and the lower extremities arealso preferably provided with eyes H.

The two sections may be secured to one another at their intermediateportions by suitable clamps I8 and braces I9 may be employed to giveadded rigidity to the structure.

The lower hooks I2 are preferably used to suspend the harness I8therefrom. The latter comprises a seat I9, a sling 20 by means of whichthe seat is supported and suitable body securing means. The sling 20consists preferably of strands 2| passing through spaced holes 22 in theboard and having snap-fasteners 23 forsecuring the same to the hooks 12.Body securing means are provided in the back strap 24 which '25 hassnap-fasteners 25 for securing the strap to the hooks I2, and in theband 26 intended to go around the waist of the person and secured to thestrands 2i at the waist region of a person sitting on the seat. The bandopens and closes in front by means of a snap-fastener 21.

The manner of using my invention is apparent from the foregoingdescription. One end of the rope may be permanently fastened to thebrake as at 3. In case of fire the person faced with the necessity ofescaping from a higher floor guides 'an intermediate portion of the ropeover the sheave 4 and then spirals it around the rod portion 9 betweenthe hook II and the reverse hook I 5. He then winds an adjacent portionof the rope over the two opposing reverse hooks I5 and I6 until the ropeis firmly secured. He then seats himself on the seat 9, with the straps24 across his back in the region of the arm pits and secures the band 26over his waist region. He is now prepared to jump out of the window andhis downward progress will be arrested when the rope becomes tight. Theoperator then carefully unwinds the rope from the reverse hooks l5 andI6 and slow- 50 ly feeds the rope in spiral form around the rod portion9 whereby he is gradually lowered to the ground surface.

If at any time the speed increases to an alarming extent it is merelynecessary for the opera- 55 tor to use a second spiral around the rodportion 9. It will be noted that the latter section is disposed on anincline to give the desired freedom to the spiral of the rope and isconfined between the two hooks to'prevent the rope from slipping off.The two reverse hooks l5 and [6 are disposed in theimmediate proximityof the spiral and in line with the spiral feed so that the brakingaction of the two reverse hooks may be called into play instantaneouslyand without any intermediate slacking of the rope. In fact, brakingaction in addition to that caused by the spiral may be appliedimmediately by merely urging the free endof the rope against the reversehook !6, and the" action may be increased* by turning the rope over theupper reverse hook motionaltogether, an additional turn or twomay J g berequired, depending upon the weight/of ,the

7 {2 free for a second harness to support a; second person. If desiredthe eyes l1 may also be used the'room as for instance the heat radiator,spiral l5 and back again. For arresting the downward person. 1 g p Itwillbe noted that the'snap-fastener 23 may be secured to the fastener25;to allow the two fasteners to be used'as a unit. It is also apparentthat all the fasteners 23 and 25 may be secured to a single hook l2sofas torleave the other hook to. give support to one or moresnap-fasteners. Instead of using'the sheave 4 the user may secure oneend of the rope to a fixed point in an intermediate portion around therod 9 and proceed as'previously described. 1

I claim: 7 1. A brake for a fire escape or the like comprising a rodhaving a central section and having one end turned to form a reverse armterminatingin a reverse hook, the other end of the rod being bent uponthe central section and terminating in a reverse hook disposed in spacedof rods having, intermediate sections secured to one another in adjacentrelation, each rod having its ends turned over'to form hooks and armspointing. toward one another, the extremities of the arms being turnedbackwards to form a pair of spaced reverse hooks having hook sections adisposed in opposing irelationfor allowing a rope" .torbe woundthereon,the. space betweenthe re-" verse. hooks being clear to allow amintermediate portion of therope to bepassedtherebetween: for spiralling on'thearmprior to winding on g the hooks and the hooks, and arms of the two.

rods being arranged in the same plane with the intermediate sections.

CHARLES M. COCHRAN.

